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Galaxy Note 9 Review

There are tons of great smartphones available to buy right now and Samsung just might have put the rest of the competition to bed with the Galaxy Note 9.

Some people want to buy a Google Pixel 3, some people want to buy an iPhone XS or an LG V40, but some people just like me want to buy a Note 9.

There are reasons why people want to buy Samsung’s smartphones and most of those reasons will be disclosed in this review.

Hardware & Design

The Note 9 looks very similar to the Note 8, a phone that also featured an all-glass design on the front and back along with an aluminum frame around it.

There was nothing wrong with last year’s design so I am glad that Samsung decided to stick with it instead of being just like Apple was with the iPhone X.

Samsung did however make one change to the design by placing the fingerprint sensor below the camera.

The Note 8 had its fingerprint sensor to the left of the rear cameras and that made it harder for people to reach it because of how tall the phone was.

I have to give a lot of credit to Samsung for listening to their customers and improving upon their mistakes each time they come out with a new phone.

Another thing I also love about the Note 9 on the hardware side of things is that it includes the S-Pen, which can be tucked away inside of the phone when it is not being used and this is a feature that I find to be very convenient.

Not only is the S-Pen great for taking notes, but it is also great for navigating around the touch screen and I find it a lot more fun than swiping my fingers everywhere.

Display

The Note 9 features a 6.4-inch Quad HD+ display and as expected it features Samsung’s Super AMOLED technology, which allows for super vibrant colors and a much brighter screen.

Everything on this display is going to come out crystal-clear and that even goes for when the Note 9 is being used outdoors because it can get super bright and allows you to see what is on the screen in direct sunlight.

But the best thing about this display is that it will make watching videos much more enjoyable because it supports HDR and that really helps colors pop no matter what you are watching.

Performance

With a Snapdragon 845 processor and 6 GB of RAM, the Note 9 runs smooth as silk and it even looks like it runs faster than the OnePlus 6 and iPhone XS, which are arguably the fastest phones on the market right now.

Multitasking and keeping multiple apps open at once is easy with the Note 9 because almost nothing slows it down whether it’s watching YouTube videos, browsing the web, interacting with your followers on social media or playing games.

As far as software is concerned the Note 9 does run Google’s Android 8.1 Oreo with a little bit of Samsung sprinkled on top of it.

Unlike its previous smartphones, Samsung did a great job engineering a quick and snappy user interface for the Note 9 because all of the extra crap that they put on this phone has not seemed to affect the performance at all.

And despite the fact that most phones tend slow down after a couple of years, I am not expecting this one to because I have used it for almost two months and it still works just like it did when it came out of the box.

My LG G6 started slowing down after a couple of weeks and my OnePlus 6 also did not last as long because it started giving me hiccups after just two months.

The Note 9 is the fastest smartphone around and I don’t think that is going to change anytime soon.

But we can’t talk about the performance of the Note 9 without discussing its superb battery life.

I have not thoroughly tested the batter on this phone like most other reviewers usually do, but so far the Note 9 has gotten me through every single day I have used it and this is regardless of what I used it for whether it was browsing the web or spending a lot of time on social media apps like Instagram and Twitter.

And for those who might be worried that the Note 9 won’t last them all day, topping off the battery can be done in minutes thanks to the fact the phone comes with a fast charger in the box, which is something Apple is refusing to do with the iPhone XS and iPhone XR.

Camera

Taking pictures with the Note 9 is an experience like no other and Samsung did a great job when it came to designing cameras that gives us the ability to take great shots in even the worst lighting conditions ever and in pretty much any other situation.

The colors always seem to pop in the photos I take on the Note 9 and the portrait mode is also nice because I can focus on a particular person or object without being distracted by what is in the background of the shot.

I also really find it useful that I change the background blur even after taking a picture using portrait mode with the rear camera.

Apple claims to have added a similar feature to its newest iPhones, which I have yet to see for myself.

Bottom Line

$1,000 is a lot of money to spend on a phone but I think Samsung perfectly justifies the high price tag on the Note 9 by giving it features that no other flagship device has to offer.

People that can’t afford this phone are obviously not going to buy it, but those that can need to know that the Note 9 is a greater value for $1,000 compared to the iPhone XS.

The iPhone XS has a lot of cool features and its user interface is just as smooth as what I have found while using the Note 9, but the fact that you have to pay extra money to utilize all of its features is outrageous.

If someone where to buy a Note 9 right now they would get not only the phone in the box, but in addition to that they would also get a fast charging adapter along with a compatible cable.

Buying an iPhone XS will only get that person a phone and they would not only have to pay $49 more for the fast charging adapter, but they would also have to pay another $25 for the compatible cable.

That being said, this conversation is over because I am here to tell everybody that the Galaxy Note 9 is indeed the best smartphone out there and there is currently no better alternative available.

Alex Lowe’s Score: 97%

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